John Hall: “over the weekend, gas reached the $4 national average for the first time in our Nation's history. The majority in…”

“over the weekend, gas reached the $4 national average for the first time in our Nation's history. The majority in Congress has worked to combat these prices by advancing new energy solutions and efforts to protect consumers. The standard refrain from the oil companies and their allies is, ``We need to drill for more oil here at home.'' I would ask them, ``Who is stopping you?'' The oil company myth is that we need to open up the Arctic refuge and give the oil company a free hand to go wherever and whenever they want to chase oil. The reality, however, is that about 75 percent of the oil in the United States is on land that is already open for production, but less than one-third of that land is actually being used by the oil companies. They are literally sitting on 10,000 permits and millions of acres of leased land that would let them start pulling more oil out of the ground here at home. So I say to the oil company advocates, start drilling for more domestic supply. Start drilling on the lands that are already open, and stop posturing while American drivers are in pain at the pump.”